Terminal



March 20, 1928. 1,662,822

- M. J. DUNNE TERMINAL Filed May 2, 1922 .2 A I l9 y m 6 v I v INVENTOR TORNEY v Patented Mar. 20, 1928.

In men, s r Ares IAUBICEJ. Dunne, orlwnsr ORANGE, {NEW mm! TERMINAL.-

This invention relates to a terminal for use in welded electrical connections, and while it is adaptable in many different situ- 'ations, it is primarily designed for railway work where a short length of cable or bond is connected to adjacent rails.

Heretofore such welded connections have very often broken ofl because the stiff cable is welded, for a short length at its end, in a thimble or similar device, and when the cable is bent, and also under the vibration incidental to traflic over the rails, the welded connection parts, because the material, for a short length, has been burned out to an extent where it has lost its tensile strength.

This invention is designed to provide a terminal in which the welded part of the cable has not an abrupt end, and in which withdrawl of the cable is prevented by reason of the construction of the terminal act ing as a collar or abutment against which the welded part bears, and also due to the fact that the portion of the cable that emerges from the terminal has a reasonable amount of flexibility on account of the gradual merging of the welded part with the unwelded part.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which Figure 1 is a rear view, Figure 2 is a side view and Figure 3 is .a front view of a terminal, showing one form which embodies the invention. Figure 4: is a section of the terminal, with the end of a cable inserted therein ready for welding. Figure 5 is a similar view, showing the cable welded. Figures 6, 7 and 8 are sections on lines 66, 77 and 88, respectively, Figure 5.

The terminal comprises a body portion made of any suitable metal, and I have successfully employed steel, which body portion comprises a base 10 which has on one end a sleeve 11, the bore 12 of the sleeve permit ting the insertion of a cable, and in continuation of the lower part of the bore, and in substantial alignment therewith, is a groove 13 in the top of the base 10. The sides 14 and the rear end 15 of the base are preferably inclined so as to make it more convenient for the welding operation to be described hereinafter, although such tapered disposition of the sides is not essential.

In securing the device in place I first take the terminal and place it with the bottom of the base against the element to which electrical connection is to be made, and in most,

cases this is :the base flange for :a rail, which sis represented at'16, and when th'e temnimal has been so placed on the base it is subjected to a welding heat around its edges at the base of the sides 14 and 15, using any desired flux; in case of electrical welding using a steel flux, and in case of acetylene welding using a copper flux, and the terminal in this way is secured to the base flange 16, and the cable 17 is then inserted in the channel provided for the cable, the construction of the terminal permitting the rear end 18 of the cable to be exposed so that it canbe welded.

The end 18 of the cable is now subjected to the welding process along the end of the terminal, and, of course, added metal is used to build up the welded ortion 19, the welded metal flowing toget er and formin an integral mass at theback end of the terminal. The amount of heat applied. to the cable is reduced as the welding progresses toward the sleeve 11. This produces agradual merging of the welded and unwelded parts of the cable 17, so that while at the end at 8-8 in Figure 5, shown in Figure 8, all or nearly all of the cable is welded to the added metal, at the body portion, as 77, only,

say, one-half is welded, the other part being intact, and at 66 the cable is practically whole, as the cable at this portion, likewise the added metal at this point, has been subjected to only a flowing heat, This, of course, is also a result of proper manipulation of the torch by the welder, and it will also be noted that the welded part is relieved of much tensional strain by reason of the sleeve 11 acting as a collar and functioning as an abutment against which the metal at 20 bears, and thus resists pull on the cable. The cable merges from a stiff welded extreme end gradually to a flexible part where it passes through the sleeve 11 and has'a limited flexibility and Vibration in the bore 12.

The sleeve 11 also acts to protect that part of the cable within the bore from excessive heat while the-welding is going on.

I claim:

1. A terminal for use in welded electrical connections comprising a base adapted to be a a m a 5 ing from one endof the top of the base and disposed so that its bottom is in extension of the bottom of the groove.

3. A terminal for use in WQlClQd electrical connections comprising a base and a sleeve 343 extending from the top thereof, the top of the base having a groove in alignment with the bore of the sleeve, the base and the sleeve being rigid and about of equal length so that a substantial length of cable in the groove can be Welded and an unwelded portion adjacent thereto is braced against material lateral movement by the sleeve.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing, I have hereto set my hand, this 15th day of April, 1922.

MATlRICE VJ. DUNNE. 

